Archaeology

• The first archaeological item ‘0’ is a small chert fragment from the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is part of a series of 44 stone artefacts that were exhibited at the 1897 world fair and were registered in the museum in 1898. The final item is a gift dating from 2009. It is a treasure of corroded croisettes from Katanga (DR Congo).
   
• A third of the volume of the collections is either being examined or in transit and is not part of the Museum’s property. The official collections mainly come from DR Congo, the collections that are being studied are also partly from Congo as well as from Cameroon, Gabon, Rwanda and Equatorial Guinea.
   
• The collection of human skeletal matter was transferred to the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (KBIN) (link) in Brussels in 1964. This affiliated institute employs experts in these matters with whom the Museum cooperates closely and also manages the  archaeological collections collected in Virunga National Park (North Kivu, DR Congo), including the Ishango site (http://ishango.naturalsciences.be/)
   
• The slide collection includes documentation of archaeological excavations. The oldest slides were taken at the Gwisho site (Zambia) and date from 1964. The site dates from the 3rd millennium BC. Stone and bone tools were found as well as exceptionally well-preserved objects and wooden structures. The slide library’s main sites are Matupi, Kamoa, Gombe, Ngovo, Sakuzi and the Upemba Depression in the DR Congo and Obobogo, Nkang and Shum Laka in Cameroon.
   
• The fieldwork’s photographic documentation was fully digitalised in 2002.
  The first black-and-white photos were taken in 1957 by J. Nenquin on the Sanga grave field (DR Congo), which dates from 12th – 15th century. The last black-and-white photos were taken by D. Muya in 2002 during the melting of copper for the production of croisettes by the Mangeurs de Cuivre in Kolwezi (DR Congo).
   
• The department’s archives date back to 1897 and consist of research material (excavations, dating) as well as personal correspondence and staff dossiers.
   
• The management of the collections and archive is professionalized in cooperation with the Department of Collections/ Collection Management (link collectiebeheer). The catalogue of the items and the slide collection’s main historic part has been digitalised. A detailed inventory is being created for the archives.